Fundraising – General and Structural Funds

Latest publication:

In 2020, EBLIDA created the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) European House offering services, reports, and tools to its members.

We are very pleased to inform you that the House has just published a training tool: the “European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) 2021-2027: a Guide for library applicants” .

The EU provides plenty of financial opportunities, both direct (Horizon, Erasmus, etc.) and indirect. ESI Funds are the most important source of European indirect funding. They target not only hard infrastructure (railway corridors, motorways, broadband wirelines, and subsidies to farmers, to name but a few) but also a more cohesive Europe taking into account the cultural dimension. This is an incredible opportunity that libraries should not jeopardize.

“The advantage for libraries to resort to ESI Funds is that the programs are administered at national level, oriented towards communities, adaptable to small as well as big library initiatives and are in general adequately funded”, says Ton van Vlimmeren, EBLIDA President.

The EBLIDA Guide provides references to websites and resources that are relevant for librarians willing to access ESI Funds. Another interest of the Guide is that information is embedded into the framework of the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development; therefore, potential applicants will be tooled up to go through the SDG test.

“In eight steps, library applicants will be provided with first-hand information on EBLIDA and national resources on SDG and ESIF, with ESIF webpages and interactive maps provided by the European Commission, and with the addresses of people who are able to assist library applicants in project preparation”, maintains Giuseppe Vitiello, Director EBLIDA.

The Guide, published in 2021, is the practical companion of the EBLIDA Report The European Structural and Investment Funds 2021-2027: Funding Opportunities for Libraries published in 2020. These reports together serve as an indispensable toolkit for librarians who wish to access ESI Funds.

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Introduction:

The most comprehensive overview of European programmes and funds which may be relevant for libraries is the EBLIDA Matrix. The EBLIDA Matrix does not refer only to the fabric of culture and education but place libraries into the more general framework of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.  The three reports are designed to help European libraries to go through the Covid 19 crisis and to show their transformative resilience. Relations between them can be described as the making of a car, where A European library agenda for the post-Covid 19 age - Work in Progress is the engine, the Sustainable Development Goals and Libraries - First European Report is the chassis and the Paper on The European Structural and Investment Funds 2021-2027: Funding Opportunities for Libraries may be the fuel setting the car in motion.

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Reports:

The three reports have been aggregated into Think The Unthinkable: A post Covid-19 European Library Agenda meeting Sustainable Development Goals and funded through the European Structural and Investment Funds (2021-2027).

Think The Unthinkable
A post Covid-19 European Library Agenda meeting Sustainable Development Goals and funded through the European Structural and Investment Funds (2021-2027)"

 

Full version

The Report "Think the unthinkable - A post Covid-19 European Library Agenda meeting Sustainable Development Goals and funded through the European Structural and Investment Funds (2021-2027)" aggregates three reports already released by the EBLIDA European Sustainability House in the first half of 2020. All reports were based on direct input provided by our Members to various Surveys elaborated by the EBLIDA Secretariat. “Think the unthinkable” is certainly not a book of dreams; it is a list of best practices, an agenda for European libraries, and a practical Guide to European Structural and Investment Funds 2021-2027. And it is a way for EBLIDA to show how the unthinkable may come true in European libraries.

Short version

Tables Summarising the Report

 Translations:

Italian: "Pensare l'impensabile" di buone pratiche, un'agenda per le biblioteche europee e una guida ai Fondi Strutturali e di Investimento Europei 2021-2027. E' anche un modo per EBLIDA di mostrare come l'impensabile può diventare realtà nelle biblioteche europee.

Latvian: "Domāt ne iedomājamo" Ilgtspējīgas attīstības mērķiem atbilstošaun no Eiropas strukturālajiem un investīcijufondiem (2021.–2027.) finansēta Eiropasbibliotēku programma pēc Covid-19 krīzes.

Infographic

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The European Structural and Investment Funds 2021-2027: Funding Opportunities for Libraries

(A Paper preliminary to the “First European Report on Sustainable Development Goals and its Implementation in European Libraries”)

The European Structural and Investment Funds 2021-2027 report focuses on two funds which are likely to be relevant for libraries: the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). “The preparation of a European library agenda in the post-Covid 19 age will require additional funding in order to carry out ordinary library activities and to consolidate the trends experimented with during the crisis. ESI Funds may be an appropriate financial instrument; we have to stimulate ground-breaking developments in libraries and be open to novel directions which cannot be covered by ordinary library budgets”, said Mr Ton van Vlimmeren, President EBLIDA.

Italian translation:

I Fondi Strutturali e di Investimento Europei (FSIE) 2021-2027: Finanziare le biblioteche per progetti di sviluppo sostenibile

Il rapporto "Fondi strutturali e di investimento europei 2021-2027" si concentra su due fondi di rilevanza per le biblioteche: il Fondo europeo di sviluppo regionale (FESR) e il Fondo sociale europeo Plus (FSE+). "La preparazione di un'agenda bibliotecaria europea nell'era del post-Covid 19 richiederà ulteriori finanziamenti per svolgere le attività bibliotecarie ordinarie e per consolidare le tendenze sperimentate durante la crisi. I Fondi ESI sono con ogni probabilità lo strumento finanziario più idoneo; dobbiamo stimolare sviluppi innovativi nelle biblioteche ed incamminarci verso nuovi sviluppi che non possono essere coperti dai bilanci ordinari delle biblioteche", ha detto Ton van Vlimmeren, Presidente EBLIDA.

 

French translation:

Les Fonds Européens Structurels et d’Investissement (FESI) 2021-2027: opportunités de financement pour les bibliothèques

"Penser l'impensable" n'est certainement pas un livre de rêves ; il s'agit d'une liste de bonnes pratiques, un programme pour les bibliothèques européennes et un guide d'accès aux Fonds Structurels et d'Investissement Européens 2021-2027. C'est aussi un moyen pour EBLIDA de montrer comment l'impensable peut devenir une réalité dans les bibliothèques européennes.

 

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Please send your comments to:

Giuseppe Vitiello, EBLIDA Director
Email: g.vitiello@eblida.org

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